Monday, February 25, 2013

Old poetry - part 1

I have been tidying my office a bit in the last few days and this evening, my eyes were drawn to my book of poetry that I wrote when i was in my early 20's (nearly 15 years ago - god, I feel old now). I thought it might be interesting to publish them here as an insight into the feelings of someone with mental health issues.

I want to stress that, while I do still struggle quite a lot sometimes, I don't feel nearly as black as this poem paints things. I think I was only just coming to terms with what I had (depression) and 15 years experience has taught me a few things on how to deal with the low feelings. Something else that really helps me is my 2 beautiful cute funny children. Knowing that I have them in my life, to protect, cuddle, play with (not withstanding all the guilt that i feel from certain lifestyle choices), it makes the darkness, when it comes, a little easier to bear/bare/bair.... no idea which word is the correct spelling - apart from the last one which is not a word!

Anyway, here is my poem from my little black book of poetry, pictured below:




8th January 2001

I closed my eyes and tried to find 
the space where my life should be
23 years of living 
leave me completely empty

When did the void appear?
How did I fall this low?
Why does my whole body 
feel so utterly hollow.
I want to be alone, 
but I need someone right now. 
I want to reach out 
but I don't know who or how. 
I feel so numb 
I might as well be dead. 
I'm alone in this world, 
this place that I live in.
I wish the clouds in my head
Would leave me to my own peace
I've no reason at all so why do I feel such grief.
My whole life I've felt it. Its always been there. 
I was always taught that life was fair. 
But it isn't. Its an empty cruel place.
And I look at myself. And my face
in the mirror tells me nothing at all. 
All my life Ive felt this empty and small
Only now does it start to make sense. 
The pills are starting to work. 
I feel less desperate, less distraught. 
But the emptiness is still right there in its place.
Maybe this is me. How I'm meant to be. 
No matter where I am, who I'm with,
I'll never be free
Sometimes even breathing is hard. 
The emptiness inside me feels like a rock
Weighing me down. Pulling me down. 
I curl up in the protection of my home.
Why do I feel like my skin is not my own. 
Smiling feels so unnatural, when will it pass?
Perhaps when I get to the bottom of the glass.
 My body's warm but my heart is so cold. 
How can 23 years make me feel so old. 
I want to write it all down, get it out of my head
But I don't think I can so I'll fill my glass instead. 


Rather depressing reading, isn't it?! Sorry about that. Here is a funny picture of Lala to cheer you up!

this is her smiling :)

8 comments:

  1. very dark but kool ..... wishing you love and light !!

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    1. Thanks. Mostly good nowadays. Occasionally get depressed but much better at dealing with it. I often think to myself (especially after reading my old poetry) that I'm glad I'm not a teenager or in my 20's anymore!

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  2. This is GREAT. It's a very similar writing style to mine actually. I too had loads of poetry sitting in a book and thats why I decided to do my linky Prose for Thought every Thursday - it was a place for people to share all their poetry and prose, old or new but original. This week is all about Mothers Day and I've written one specially - I don't normally do a theme but felt it was a good idea this week.

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    1. Thank you so much. It was my outlet during a very dark time. I will check out your linky. Although I'm not very good at sticking to a schedule! lol

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  3. I too wrote my way through depression when I was 14-16. I have written some incredibly dark stuff before. I haven't felt ready to share it on my blog yet, but maybe one day. You should blog some more of your little black book and join in with my Wednesday Words Linky. I am glad you are not as depressed anymore xx

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    1. Thanks. I will do that. I will try to remember to do it tonight if I get time!

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  4. Beautifully written, I've had my dark moments too, so felt a lot of empathy reading this - or my teenage self does/did.

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    1. Thank you very much for your comment. I've actually moved now to muminahurry.com. Would be lovely if you were to follow me there. Thanks again.

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